Chisholm

Spellings & scripts●(measured from records)

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested in 1 language in the etymology graph.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Chisholm is also recorded as another name, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Korean surname2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, South Korea, Canada, United Kingdom

  Also written 치점

42 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Chisholm is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, From Old English ces holm, ‘cheese farm’; a Borders name from the old barony of Chisholm in Roxburghshire. Early refs 1254, 1296; north-moving branch recorded by 1359.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In English, from the barony of Chisholm in Roberton, Roxburgh; first attested John de Chesehelme 1254 Black

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, A surname from Old English.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, Chifinau [Kishinev]

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

• In English, capital, Moldova

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Hugh Chisholmb. 1866GBEnglish editor and journalist (1866–1924)
• Grace Chisholm Youngb. 1878GBEnglish mathematician (1878–1944)
• Brock Chisholmb. 1896CACanadian psychiatrist and director-general of the World Health Organization (1896–1971)
• Erik Chisholmb. 1904GB20th century Scottish composer and conductor (1904–1965)
• Roderick Chisholmb. 1916USAmerican philosopher and logician (1916–1999)
• Shirley Chisholmb. 1924USfirst black woman elected to the United States Congress (1924-2005)
• Anthony Chisholmb. 1943USAmerican actor (1943–2020)
• Sallie W. Chisholmb. 1947USAmerican oceanographer, marine biologist
• Melanie Cb. 1974GBnot in their usual nameBritish pop singer
• Tanya Chisholmb. 1983USAmerican actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Chisholm mean, and where does it come from?

‘Person from Chisholme’, Scottish Borders; ‘meadow with good pasture’. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

In which country does Chisholm have the most bearers?

In the United States, the national register counted about 13 thousand people named Chisholm, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled chisholm.

Where is Chisholm most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Chisholm is densest in Guyana — about 1 in 3.2 thousand people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is the name Chisholm?

In the United States, the national register counted 12,503 people named Chisholm in 2010, about 1 in 27 thousand residents.